If it Looks Like a Hyacinth – Wood Hyacinth

By Stacey Morgan Smith, May 6th, 2010, Shenandoah Valley, Virginia

Now that the irises are blooming, the daffodils are going to seed (because I haven’t deadheaded them all), and the tulips are starting to fade, I have a late-blooming bulb that is making a brilliant blue showing.

It looks like a hyacinth — similar leaves, growth habit, and appearance when the flower stalk first emerges — but as much as I Googled, I was unable to find a similar version. It looks a little like wild hyacinth, so for now, I’m calling it my pretty-blue-bell hyacinth.

UPDATE: It happens that someone posted a query on the Garden Web forums about Hyacinthoides Hispanica, or wood hyacinth, and a subsequent image search shows that my image matches! Another farm resident identified!!

hyacinth-like flower

hyacinth-like flower closeup

Hyacinthoideshispanica

*** This personal blog is comprised solely of the opinions, views, projects, and travels of its author, Stacey Morgan Smith. She is lucky enough to have loving family and friends whom she drags along with her on her adventures and whom she puts to work on her little farm. She uses this blog to help promote living in the mountains of the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, from Roanoke to the Potomac River.**